HUL, Ogilvy set sail on river cleanliness drive at Kumbh

Along with Ogilvy, the brand has come up with a unique concept called ‘Swachhata Ki Sawari’ for continuous cleaning of the river

Hindustan Unilever Ltd has started a ‘Start A Little Good – Swachhta ki Sawari’ to empower the boatmen communities in the Kumbh Mela region, while also maintaining cleanliness of the ‘Sangam’– the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers which is considered a holy spot and visited by thousands of pilgrims. The company has joined hands with Kumbh Mela authorities for a cleanliness drive to clear the huge amount of litter that routinely gathers there.

To address the garbage challenge, Hindustan Unilever partnered with Ogilvy to conceptualize a simple & innovative solution called ‘Swachhata Ki Sawari’ that ensures continuous cleaning of the river.

The mechanism is pretty simple. It involves simply attaching two nets on either side of the 100 boats that ferry devotees to the Sangam and back. Once the boat sets sail into the river, the nets which are looped at one end, collect the floating garbage on the waters. Once it reaches the shore to disembark the passengers, a team of cleaners remove the garbage from the nets and reinstall fresh nets on the boats. The cleaners then transport the collected waste to the designated garbage area on each ‘ghat’.

Speaking about the newly launched initiative, Priya Nair, Executive Director, Homecare, HUL, said, “’Start A Little Good’ and ‘Swachhata Ki Sawari’ are all about finding simple yet effective solutions to tackle growing issues like plastic pollution and waste management that we face today. We hope that this initiative will help in keeping the Sangam clean during the Kumbh and create awareness amongst consumers.”

Speaking about it, Harshvardhan Bajpai, MLA, Prayagraj North, said, “To me, Swachhata Ki Sawari nets are the result of out-of-box thinking; a very simple idea to a very practical problem. Deceptively basic, it’s a great example of building a sense of responsibility within the Nishad (boatmen) community and pilgrims who visit Kumbh Mela. And it’s almost poetic how the boats that ferry pilgrims to cleanse their soul in the Triveni Sangam also subconsciously help them in keeping it clean.”